The removal of nickel, copper and cadmium from aqueous solution using liver moss (Dumortiera hirsute Sw. nees)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of liver moss (Dumortiera hirsute Sw. nees) as an alternative adsorbent for the removal of nickel, copper and cadmium from aqueous solution. The results showed that equilibrium contact time was 60 min and acidic pH was favourable for removal of metal ions. Higher initial metal ion concentrations led to lower removal. The data were fitted well both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The monolayer adsorption capacities were 30.675, 35.971 and 53.476 mg/g for nickel, copper and cadmium, respectively. The presence of metal ions such as sodium, potassium and magnesium at concentration of 10 mM was found to have no significant effect on the removal of nickel, copper and cadmium. The removal of nickel, copper and cadmium was markedly inhibited, however, in the presence of calcium ion and heavy metal ions mixture in solutions. The kinetic data for removal processes were described by the pseudo-second-order model. The liver moss shows high potential as an economic and abundant material for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solution.

Keywords:

• Adsorption
• Liver moss
• Metal ions
• Wastewater

Acknowledgement

The authors are very grateful to the authorities of the Kebun Raya Cibodas, Bogor, Indonesia for kindly providing the liver moss samples for this research study. We also wish to thank the anonymous referee for constructive comments to improve the manuscript.